Dem Governors Step Up Defense of Stimulus

Democratic governors stepped up their defense of the federal stimulus package Saturday in the face of steady criticism of the $787 billion plan from a small group of their Republican peers.

At a press conference held during the winter meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington D.C., the Democrats said the stimulus plan is already protecting teachers from cutbacks and putting construction workers back on the job. And they criticized objecting Republicans as a "fringe group."

The Democrats are committed "to pulling our national economy out of the ditch that George Bush ran it into," said Martin O'Malley, the governor of Maryland. "If some of the fringe governors don't want to help us do that, they need to step aside and not stand in the way."

Republicans including Mark Sanford of South Carolina, the chairman of the GOP governors association, and Rick Perry of Texas have criticized the stimulus plan as wrong-headed, ineffective, and a dangerous addition to the national debt.

"Nearly all Republican governors are taking a careful look at the proposal to see what strings are attached and how it would impact taxpayers in their state," Mike Schrimpf, a spokesman for the GOP governors, said in an e-mail. The portion of the plan that would pay for expanded unemployment insurance coverage for some workers, such as part-timers, who do not now qualify, has been a particular focus of Republican criticism.

Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, a rising star in the GOP, said on Friday that his state will forego about $100 million in stimulus funding by declining to expand unemployment insurance coverage. Expanding the insurance, he said, would ultimately lead to increased taxes on business once the federal funding ran out. He urged other governors to consider doing the same, though he said Louisiana will accept funds to increase unemployment insurance payments under the current rules by $25 a week.

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